2016-06-11 Trip Date

Scouting Trip # 283

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The Sustainable Backyard Tour began in 2010 in Saint Louis. It’s a grassroots event, one of the first of it’s kind, and it just celebrated it’s 7th anniversary in 2017. Known affectionately as the SBYT, this is a free event by locals, who throw their garden gates open to the public each year, to showcase best practices in organic vegetable growing, beekeeping, chicken farming, native habitats, water retention and clean energy. Typically, over 40 hosts showcase their backyards and gardens every year. Green Spiral Tours took advantage of the SBYT to visit the celebrated Urban Harvest Food Roof in downtown Saint Louis. The Food Roof is fantastic!

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Located downtown near the City Museum, and above Wave Storage, you can easily park on the street next to Wave Taco, which offers a volleyball tournament arena, several tons of white Florida sand, and a tiki bar serving tacos, beer and margaritas. To get to the Food Roof, enter through the doors at W-ave Storage, and make your way up the stairs to roof. When you pop up, expect to be impressed by an exceptionally well designed space and vibrant scene.

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5 staff, 15 interns, 300 volunteers, and several master gardeners help make the Urban Harvest Food Roof what it is today. It’s a beautiful rooftop farm, showcasing best practices while collaborating with a cluster of food partners. The Food Roof is the brainchild of Mary Ostafi, an EarthDance Farm graduate; Mary is a trained architect, who brings high design and great intentionality to everything she touches. The Food Roof is the first rooftop farm in Saint Louis, and is growing into a localized network of farms, gardens, educators and food distributors in north Saint Louis.

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There’s a chicken coop and greenhouse on the roof, plus hydroponics, a community garden, test garden, and gathering space for events, educational functions and weddings. It’s incredible, and, it’s beautiful.

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70% of the food generated is donated to partner organizations, including the STL Metro Market (the Food Bus), the Fit & Food Connection, St. Patricks and the kids at Flance. Green Spiral has hosted field trips to both St. Patrick’s and Flance in the past. St. Patrick’s serves under-priviledged populations, and has one of the first “kitchen incubators” in the country. Flance is a Platinum-level preschool – only the 4th such school in the world – and what happens inside the building is as impressive as the green building structure itself. It’s exciting to watch these world class, cutting-edge sustainability programs grow, right here in Saint Louis.

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Now here’s the best part: if you want to visit the Food Roof, and missed the chance during the SBYT, you can drop-in any Saturday morning from 9 – 12, when the Food Roof is open to the public. OR, you can attend any number of special events, such as workshops, Happy Hours, Harvest Dinners, or yoga. The events serve as fundraisers to help fund the many programs. Find the time to visit this incredible and beautiful farm – on a roof! – in downtown Saint Louis; you’ll be glad you did.